Google has purchased Dublin’s tallest commercial office block, the Montevetro building, for €99.9m
Google bought the 15-storey Montevetro office building on Barrow Street in Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, from Real Estate Opportunities plc (REO) to provide more space for existing operations and capacity for future growth.
Head of Google John Herlihy in Ireland said, “Acquiring Montevetro also means we have the space and flexibility to support our future operations.”
“Here in Dublin we are constantly seeking the best and brightest talent and at any one time we have a number of exciting opportunities available for the right people to come work with us,” Herlihy said.
“The majority of the team in Dublin helps businesses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to take advantage of the internet. It’s already a big part of the way Europe does business but there’s still a long way to go. For example, Forrester reported that online retail sales in Western Europe (EU-17) reached €68 bn in 2009, and are expected to reach €114 bn in 2014. Our teams in Dublin will be helping to drive that growth. It’s a very exciting time in our company and it’s great to be a part of it.”
The 67-metre tall building is comprised of 210,000 sq feet of prime office space. NAMA, which acquired the Montevetro building as security for a loan that transferred from a participating institution in April 2010, advanced the necessary working capital to complete the development. Treasury Holdings, NAMA and CIE collaborated to deliver the building to schedule.
Frank Daly, chairman of NAMA, has welcomed the deal.
“NAMA provided extensive resources, including working capital and expertise to ensure the development was completed on time. Based on the sale price achieved, all NAMA’s outlay – acquisition price and further investment – has been recovered. It is an excellent example of NAMA’s ability to enhance the value of its assets and will be seen as a positive sign for the Irish commercial property market.”
The sale negotiations were carried out by Treasury Holdings on behalf of Real Estate Opportunities.
